The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen plus me
by itchy magee
Summary: The league of extraordinary gentlemen told from the perspective of a new member. Amelia, the flying acrobat
1. Prelude

Prelude

I bet you've heard the story of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Maybe from the perspective of Tom Sawyer or Alan Quatermain. Heck, maybe even the captain of the Nautilus, Nemo. But never from the perspective of one of the Gentlemen themselves, or one of the gentlewomen.

The name's Miss Amelia Foxworthy, acrobat extraordinaire. I was the most popular acrobat on the face of the planet. Able to fly from beam to beam; literally. That's what makes me extraordinary, that's why M wanted me. I can fly. I'm also a pretty darn good pyrotechnic. That's my scapegoat for the team.

Here's how it all started.

My parents died when I was four, so I was just another orphaned urchin running about the central squares of London. But that all changed on my fifteenth birthday. They said he couldn't do it, all the people in the papers my friends and me stole from various men on park benches said. It was impossible, flying was for the birds!

I've always been an imaginative child, and I had nothing better to do with my life, so I set out for Canterbury to see if the man had any use for me in his experiments. After several filthy days of traveling, I finally came to his run-down looking country house. I knocked on the door, and was surprised at the immediate and friendly answer. Usually if someone sees an urchin like me and my folk, they just scream at us and slam the door in our faces or chase us away with brooms. One of my mates even had a man shoot at him, he was drunk though.

The man (Mr. James Foxworthy (I adopted his last name as my own since I didn't have one) set right to work on educating me on the process I was about to undergo. He said there were little particles in the air, called Gatromites, that, if applied with a certain chemical aura, one could ride them, thus, having the ability to fly! So I was to be his test subject since I was young and limber and he was rather old, too old, and it just wouldn't work right if he did it to himself.

I underwent several years of physical training, to learn to use different muscles to control my speed and streamline my form (James said it was very much like swimming except the Gatromites propelled you). And chemical testing, I had to be injected with protective chemicals (incase of allergic reaction) and then the chemical itself once a month until it became my aura. That process would take about five years.

Once I had pretty much completed my physical training, I had nothing much left to do with my life besides exercising and taking my shots. So James decided to teach me all the properties of fire. Different ways to kindle it, how to manipulate it, and, of course, how to make explosives.

In those five years, James became like a father to me (thus my taking on his last name).

After about four years, James started to give me flying exercises. For the first several months of that year, I was able to hover at various heights and lengths of time. Then I was able to sort of fly around the house. Up and down the stairs and around the house for several hours at a time. Then by the end of the year, the chemical had taken its full course and was now a part of my body. I was able to fly for most of the day without touching the ground. It was a miracle!

But sadly, on my twentieth birthday, James went to town to get me a birthday present and a congratulatory gift for completing my training. On his way back to the house he was followed by a man who shot him in front of his house in an attempt to get the formula for the flying chemical. He died in my arms, the only human that ever felt anything more than envy, pity, or hate for me. The man who cared for me through my teenage years as a daughter. My father.

I realized that the records of his work weren't safe. So I took them and ran. I ran into a group of gypsies who were fascinated by my "acrobatic" and pyrotechnic skills and took me aboard their small circus. I stayed with them for about a year until I was discovered by a big-time ringleader and taken into an actual circus for four years.

That's when my life changed in a huge way.


	2. The Invitation

The Invitation

I set out from my dressing room towards the big-top tent I and my coworkers called BRYC (big red and yellow chief) we gave all of the other tents names too, but that's not important. I was on in five minutes. The night was clear and crisp, a typical early summer night in England. There were hardly any clouds to cover up the lonely stars hanging out in the cosmos. The moon shone eerily overhead. I was in my skimpy, fire themed leotard. Tonight I would be equipped with explosives of my own making. Mini fireworks.

I passed up some of the animals and tipped my invisible hat. I looked up at the high, flagged top of BRYC. I (again) resisted the urge to take off flying. I did get out every once and a while when ever we didn't have a show. When my coworkers went out to the nearby town to shop and get drunk and maybe even something else from the local wenches, I would go out flying in the night around the countryside. I would have to be in my large black cloak so that no one would notice me. But I fly and fly and not touch the ground until I had to go back to the camp to rest up for the next show.

I walked through the performer's entrance and waited for my cue.

"And now, for the piece de résistance, the amazing seventh wonder of the universe, the woman that can practically fly-" _You have no idea._ "The amazing Amelia Acrobat!"

I ran out on cue and do cartwheels and flying enhanced flips on my way to the ladder. And maybe a few small explosions to captivate those in the audience dozing on the bleachers.

I leap up the ladder, all three stories of it, and stand on the platform. One of the acrobats, Carl, who had already been on swung over by his knees and landed on the platform next to me and handed me the bar. I nodded my thanks as he patted my back wishing me luck and then climbing down the ladder. Without hesitation I swung off on the bar, swinging back and forth, the drummer below started his breathe stopping roll. When I got to a good height, I released myself and spun backwards some, letting loose some loud cracks and explosions of color to earn some oohs and aahs. I caught on to another acrobat's knees and we swung together a couple of times. Then I released and landed (well, quickly flew) down to the tight rope landing perfectly on both feet. The audience suddenly came alive, roaring cheers and thunderous applause. I bet you could have heard all that commotion a mile away and thought a thunderstorm was coming your way.

Once the commotion died down a bit, I paced up and down the tight rope, putting my arms out on either side, wobbling slightly to make it look authentic. Then, without warning, I jumped backwards and did several flips aided by the Gatromites and some explosives. The crowd, again, did their thunderstorm of approval. Now, the piece de resistance. I walked to the farthest end of the rope, for show. When I got there, Tony, the drummer, began his roll again, and the audience automatically silenced, they knew something was about to happen. They didn't know what, but they knew it would be something.

I took a couple steps out, then did a handstand, and walked out, like that, to the middle of the rope. But everyone knew that that wasn't it. Then, using the Gatromites for help, I stood on one arm and grabbed some fireballs out of my leg pocket. The audience was already starting to murmur, but I wouldn't let them applaud for the wrong thing. I took the fireballs and placed one on each of my slippered feet. Then I put my arm back down and, upon the fireballs igniting themselves, started juggling two balls of fire with my feet. The audience started their thunder applause again, but stopped short when I reached up on one arm and grabbed another fireball. Which I ignited and threw up to my feet, which were already juggling two.

So there I was, standing on my hands in the middle of a tight rope, juggling three small balls of flame with my feet, three stories in the air. The audience did there thunder applause when the band did their little _Ta-Da!!!_ theme. Then, just for an extra few points, I jumped with my arms to stand on my feet, catching the fireballs in my protected hands. Then I casually walked off the tight rope juggling the fireballs and tossing them into a tub of water once I reached the end platform.

I climbed down the ladder and hurried to my dressing room to avoid the wondering crowd. As I walked away, I had to almost avoid my wondering coworkers patting me on the back and shouting their congrats from all sides. Once I finally reached the safety of my rather large tent, I barricaded the entrance. I walked over to my bed and checked underneath it for the ball of lingerie' (for safety purposes). I pulled it out and unraveled it to see the suitcase with James' documents in it. I opened it up and sure enough, there they were, all of them, just the way I left them.

I put all of that away and went to my vanity to clean up and get changed. But just as I had taken my long, straight, black hair out of the insanely tight bun it had been in, someone called my name from the tent opening.

"Miss Foxworthy?" they called. It was somebody from the circus. Spectators called me Miss Amelia, but my coworkers all knew my last name.

"Yes?" I called back

"There's a letter for you."

"Who from?"

"The envelope is blank ma'am. It was handed to me by one of the customers."

"What did he look like?"

"I never saw his face, he was a rather shady man, Miss. Wore a hooded cloak and talked in a whispered voice."

I wasn't sure what all this was about. But I figured I could handle myself. I walked over to the opening and moved the chair I had placed in front of the tent door and opened up. The man handed me the envelope and I thanked him as we both turned away. I walked back into my tent, barricading the door again. I sniffed the envelope for any kind of explosive powder. None. No unusual smell whatsoever. So, feeling safe, I set the envelope down on my vanity and went behind my screen to get changed.

Once I had gotten rid of the constricting leotard and changed into my nightgown and dressing robe, I sat down at my vanity and cleaned off my makeup. Then, when I couldn't contain the curiosity any longer, I snatched up the envelope and sliced it open with my switchblade. I unfolded the letter to see a neatly written letter addressed to me.

Dear Miss Amelia Foxworthy,

You are cordially invited to join a rather, unique club. A league, if you will. You have an extraordinary ability, but feel safe in knowing that your secret is safe with us. We need you, the world needs you. If you will comply, please meet me at the Black Cat pub at midnight tonight.

Yours Truly,

John Doe

I was petrified. The letter slowly slipped from my hand and floated to the floor. How did they know about my ability to fly? How could I trust some stranger who was probably a stalker obsessed with my career? But, then again, they could also be in need of my pyrotechnic skills.

On the whole I was very confused, but in the end, I figured that it wouldn't hurt to go see this, John Doe. I looked at my clock and saw that it was quarter till midnight. I had to hurry. I quickly put on my nearest dress (I always wear pants and boots under my dress to prevent anyone from looking at my undergarments), ran a brush through my hair, secured James' notes (I'm always afraid that someone is going to steal them) and ran out to town. I had been to this town once before, but I had never seen the Black Cat pub.

I walked around the town for several minutes until I found the small, rundown pub on the outskirts of town. Right by their small, gloomy cemetery, go figure. The windows were all black, the wind whistled through the trees in the cemetery. It was quite frightening actually. But I put my fears behind me, and walked up to the door. I knocked quietly, several times. But no one answered. I peered into one of the windows and jumped in fright when I saw something move inside. I backed up just a bit from the door, just as it opened.

The man who opened it actually looked quite contrary to the surroundings. While the pub and everything around was more like a horror story, the man actually looked very warm and friendly. He was about my age, rather short (but then again, I'm sort of on the tall side, being 5"6 and all), clean-shaven, wearing a suit like a man would wear on an outing with his children. The man was about as friendly as he looked.

"Hello Miss Fox worthy." He said tipping his bowler, "Won't you come inside?"

I nodded and obliged. The empty pub wasn't the nicest, or cleanest, place in the world, and it was rather gloomy. But the man I assumed to be John Doe offered me a clean seat at a clean table with a clean lamp burning brightly at the center of the table. That was when I realized that the windows were painted black and it was my reflection I had been scared of earlier. D'oh.

Once Mr. Doe and I were seated, he poured us some tea he had waiting and got down to business.

"I assume you got my letter?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And you can completely trust us with your secret of flight?"

"I suppose so. I really don't have a choice in the matter."

"Oh, of course." He said, biting his lip.

"But that's all right." I said noticing his discomfort. "I suppose somebody was bound to find out sooner or later."

He smiled, looking relieved.

"So," I said inquiringly "what's all this about 'the world needs me'? Sounds a bit cliché don't you think?"

"No actually," he said to my surprise. "The world really does need you. But you're not alone."

He had my full attention.

"A masked madman, known as The Phantom, has threatened to launch a war on the entire world."  
"Well, can't the world put their differences aside and team up to squash the vermin?"

"That was part of his plan, he did horrible things and blamed them on different countries. So now the world, especially Europe, is at unrest. Spies, working for my employer, have found the next phase of the Phantom's plan. And we need a team of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and women, to take on this threat with a force like none the world has ever seen before."

"And you mean I'm to be a part of that force?"

"Yes, along with several others like you."

"What would happen if I declined your offer?"

John paused, he seemed to be thinking of something, or remembering.

"Do you remember what the man who killed Dr. James Foxworthy looked like?" he asked with a solemn tone.

I froze. I hated remembering James' death. But the image of the killer remained in my head.

"He had an iron plate covering his chest." I said, still remembering.

"That is the Phantom's trademark. Assassins with armor plating, to protect themselves in their evil work."

I knew then that I had to join. They knew about my powers, and James.

"Where do I sign up?" I said quietly.


	3. The League

The League

I gathered all my things from my dressing room. John said that he would be waiting for me back at the Black Cat where he would have a carriage to take me to a nearby train station that would take us back to London. I packed my few dresses that I needed, my personal belongings, and, of course, James' work in my suitcase. I then packed all of my combustibles and pyrotechnic tools in another suitcase, and snuck out of my tent.

It was now four o'clock in the morning and the workers were just getting up to feed and care for the animal. I had to sneak because I was under a twenty-year contract with Mr. Lionel Jenkins, the ringleader. I would be in huge trouble if I got caught sneaking away. It was too early for me to fly, so I rushed out onto the country road. It would take a bit longer to get there, than if I took the normal route, but I was _sneaking_.

Once I got to the Black Cat, John was waiting for me outside the front door with a rather expensive looking carriage. He took my luggage and loaded it into the carriage, then helped me in and followed, shutting the door behind him. After we were seated the carriage almost immediately pulled away at an abnormally fast pace. I supposed it was because they also knew about my twenty-year contract. It took us almost half the day to get to the train station, but when we finally got there, things went a lot smoother.

It took us the rest of the day to get to London. So when we got there at ten o'clock at night, John said that we were still waiting on one member of the League to arrive. We stayed at a nearby inn. Yes, we both had our own rooms. That night at dinner, I inquired as to who was in the League and what made them so special. But that was classified, John said, and that I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to meet them.

The next day was the second most exciting day of my life. John and I were staying right across the street from the building where the first of the League would be assembled. We walked up the many steps to the huge double doors guarded by giant marble pillars. John must have lead me all the way around that building before we finally came to the rather, secret, staircase going down into what I thought must be the cellar. At the bottom of the torch-lit stair, was a double door, which lead into a grand library. Books lining every wall. Being a book lover, I was almost in heaven.

The room was rather dim, and there was a man sitting in the corner at the farthest end of a table at the farthest end of the room.

"Sir," said John "this is-"

"Miss Amelia Foxworthy." Said the man spinning his seat to face us. He stood up and, smiling, walked over to me, took my hand and kissed it.

"It is truly an honor to be in the presence of the only woman to ever fly among the clouds."

The man was a little taller than me, looked to be about fifty, and had a sly, yet friendly look about him. His hair was slicked back and he had a small, thin mustache curling across his upper lip.

"And what may I call such a, charming man?" I asked as politely as I could.

"I am known by many names. Underlings call me Sir, peers call me M." he said stepping back and putting his hands behind his back.

"Well then M," said a voice from behind "who is our newest member?"

I turned to see a tall, beautiful woman standing in the door. She was dressed in a Victorian dress with a black veil going across her face. M walked past me and took the woman's hand and kissed it.

"Amelia, may I introduce the only other feminine member of this league, Dr. Mina Harker."

"How do you do?" I said slightly curtseying. I could tell she was somewhat older than I, so I treated her with the respect due.

"No need for such formalities." Mina said smiling.

"Well," said M, "why don't you two ladies get to know one another. We can't waste our time and energy trying to get to know one another on our voyage."

"Very well." Said Mina taking my hand and leading me out of the library.

We walked back up the steps and out into the building.

"Are you hungry?" asked Mina.

"Um, just a bit." I said.

"How about I take you out for something to eat, and we can get to know one another. After all," she did a hilarious impression of M's voice "we can't waist time trying to get to know each other on our voyage."

We both giggled as we walked down the steps and out into the street. Mina pulling her collar up around her neck.

It was a cloudy day, and I suspected rain later on.

Mina and I sat at a table in a café where we discussed each other's powers. She was fascinated by James' flying theory, and I was fascinated by her story of vampire hunting with Dr. Van Helsing before she was bitten herself. I also asked her if she knew who else was in the league besides either of us, and she said that she had already met one member, who was quite vulgar, rude, and had a habit of walking around naked._ Wonderful._

After Mina and I had talked so much that we could have been sisters, we decided that it was probably time to go back to the library and meet with M and the rest of the league. When we reached he bottom of the staircase, Mina reached for the door, but the door swung out from under her hand, and some invisible voice said, "Ladies first." And started giggling at my surprised look. I looked over at the source and to my surprise, there was a floating, white face staring at me! Mina glared at the face and said in a warning tone, "Skinner!"

"All right, all right, don't lose your panties! I was only 'avin' a bit o' fun." Said Skinner.

The face walked, or floated, over to a chair where it put on a long, black, leather trench coat. Mina looked at three other men in the room and said,

"Are we late?" A white haired man, sitting across the table from M looked at us and said to M "Please tell me that these are the wife and daughter coming to tell me that the husband is sick."

"Excuse me?" said Mina. As M explained and introduced us to the man (Allan Quatermain) I looked and saw an Indian man in a dark purple captain's suit, with a matching turban adorned with a silver shell holding a small feather.

Apparently, he saw me staring and acknowledged my stare with a, somewhat, friendly, yet solemn nod.

"Ah," M's voice cut in "let me introduce you to the captain of our voyage. Captain Nemo of the Nautilus."

Captain Nemo bowed deeply, bending at the waist. Mina and I curtsied slightly.

"Well then, all who was coming here is here, we have but two members left to collect. I wish you all good luck. Captain." He said nodding to Nemo as he left through a back door.

"Ladies, and Gentlemen." He nodded towards the four of us and gestured towards the front door. "Shall we?"


	4. The Phantom

The Phantom

Nemo lead us out to the street where the single most odd machine I have ever seen awaited us on the curb.

"What in God's name is that?" asked Skinner. I cringed at the use of God's name in vain. (James was a good Christian man.)

"That is what I call an Automobile." He said the last word very slowly, as if he were trying to explain something to a very young child.

We walked down the steps to the curb where the automobile was waiting. A short, muscular man in a black turtleneck was waiting next to it.

"My first mate." Said Nemo entering the right side of the automobile.

"You can call me Ishmael." Said the man shutting the door behind Nemo and opening the rear door for Mina and I.

The inside of the vehicle was rather roomy given it's cramped outward appearance. We rode along for a while in silence. I had no idea who or what we were going to go get next.

"So," said Skinner, trying to break the silence "what's the Phantom got against you?" looking at Mina.

She just glared at him and said, "Mind your own bloody business."

Skinner just stared at her in wonder. Then turned to Allan and said

"What's-" but was cut off when Allan said

"Skinner, shut up."

"Well sorry. Kill me for tryin' t' be friendly." He said pretending to be hurt.

I just stared out the window, wondering what I had gotten myself into.

We rode on in silence until we came to a large, old, gray house. We all walked to the door, I wondered why we all had to go to do one person's job. But we all went anyway. Allan knocked on the door and a very hansom; middle-aged man answered the door.

"Mr. Dorian Gray?" asked Allan.

"Yes?" said Mr. Gray

"We are in need of your services."

"No thank you," said Dorian quickly "I will serve no one." And started to shut the door. But Allan put his foot in the way.

"Mr. Gray-" Allan was cut off by a voice from the back.

"Dorian." Said Mina

"Mina."

"You've met?" asked Allan, a little peeved that she didn't mention this before.

With a nod, Mina said "Dorian, don't be so rude." And walked into his home, followed by the rest of us. Dorian looked a bit flustered at all the intruders, but merely shut the door and lead us upstairs.

The house was large, square, and about as Gray as Dorian's last name. The walls all around the stairs were covered in portraits. Except for one spot, where you could tell that their was a picture missing.

"Looks like you're missin' one, eh?" said Skinner.

"I daren't look upon it, might I perish at the sight of the painting." Said Dorian, a little rehearsed. Everyone just shrugged and followed Dorian up the steps and into a grand, bookshelf-lined room.

_What is it with these people and libraries?_

We all dispersed, Allan took a seat across from Dorian in a couple of leather armchairs, who was followed by Mina who merely stood next to Allan. Nemo and I just stood in a corner watching all of the comings and goings. I had a feeling that Nemo and I would get along just fine. Skinner, on the other hand, went to a table holding some sherry and glasses and helped himself to a glass.

"Please," said Dorian as Skinner served himself "help yourself."

Skinner looked over to Dorian, raised his glass, and then drained the glass as if it were a shot. Dorian turned his well-disguised, hateful glance from Skinner to Allan and asked "So, tell me why I should help you."

Allan explained what was going on with M and the Phantom, and this whole global Armageddon.

Before Dorian could say anything for Mina to wittingly counteract, armor plated riflemen, dressed in black, surrounded us from the second floor of the library. There was an evil laughter as we all entered our own little "battle stances". Nemo drew his sword, Allan readied his gun, Dorian stood gripping his cane like some sort of weapon, and I fingered my explosives pocket. But Skinner just kept his drink in hand, cool look on his face, and Mina stood there, looking like a scared little girl.

I didn't know why they wouldn't show their powers openly to these men to scare them away, but I had no time to ponder that. A man dressed in a heavy, fur, winter coat, with a metal mask covering most of his face stepped down the stairs and stopped, addressing us.

"So this," he spoke with a raspy voice and heavy Russian accent "is the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

Allan glared at the masked man, asking in a dangerous tone,

"What do you want?"

"The world."

Then it hit me, this man, this masked man, was the Phantom. The man who sent one of his soldiers to kill James. This man deserved to die.

"I will give you one last chance," he said slowly, "join me."

"What?" said Allan angrily "And start the war that will never end? I think I'd rather die."

"And so you shall." Said the Phantom leaving.

All of his men readied their guns and aimed down at random members of the league. I could tell that they were ready to fire when, suddenly, one of the men (now that I noticed, dressed slightly different) started shooting the other riflemen. At that moment, everyone scattered. Allan ran up the steps, after the Phantom, Nemo ran to meet the men that were coming in at ground level, Skinner threw off his jacket and ran, splashing sherry on his face to get rid of the white paint, Mina was gone before I could see her leave, Dorian drew a long blade from his cane (I knew it), and I grabbed some explosives and flew up to give Allan some cover.

But the mystery man was already there. I was so blinded by my own fighting that I could hardly notice anyone else's.

I figured that since Allan already had some cover, I could just take them out and not worry about anything else. I grabbed the nearest man and shoved him to the ground, then brought out a small dynamite stick and, igniting it, shoved it down another man's throat. I flew to my next victim and started pelting him with fireballs until he burst into flames. One minute into the fight, and I had already killed three men. Every one of them was the face of the man that grinned evilly and ran away as I held James dying in my arms. I was out of control.

In my blind fury, I killed three more men in inexplicably painful ways, was nearly shot twice, was scraped by a bullet on my left arm, nearly snapped Skinner's neck, and was nearly slashed by Nemo's blade. Only after the ten-minute fight did I come out of my blind fury. I landed on the floor amongst the rest of the league, only to see Dorian pelted by many bullets in his chest. He didn't look like he was in pain, and there was no blood. It simply baffled me.

Then he stabbed the soldier who shot him. The man sank to his knees at Dorian's feet, but no without ripping his shirt so that his hole filled chest was exposed. I held my breath; I didn't like sights like that. But then, they all turned to ashes and blew away in some invisible wind, leaving completely unmarked skin where the many, grotesque bullet holes had once been.

The dying man was still on his knees, gaping at the sight before him.

"What are you?" he rasped.

"I'm complicated." Said Dorian, ripping the sword out of the man's body, cleaning it off as the man fell and died.

_Okay, so I'm thinking that he's an immortal._ I looked around everyone but Allan was stunned (I couldn't see Skinner's face). There was also a new face that I hadn't noticed before. A young man, wavy blond hair, about eighteen, holding a rifle and standing proudly next to Allan. Dorian looked at the group of stunned faces, with an expression that said, _What? Haven't you ever seen an immortal before?_ We all turned to Allan to see what would come next.

"Well…" was all he could say before a surviving soldier popped out from behind one of the bookcases, and grabbed Mina by the throat, pressing a knife against her jugular. All of the men raised their weapons and started for the man. I was stunned, I couldn't believe what was happening._ Oh please,_ I prayed _not Mina._

In response to the aggressive behavior of the men, the soldier pressed the knife even harder and shouted, "Put down your weapons, NOW!"

The men knew that it was the only way to save Mina, so they dropped their weapons to the floor. The soldier laughed a cold, heartless laugh,

"That's what I thought," he said smiling "all the gentlemen; rushing to save the lady."  
"So," said Mina, calmly "that's what you think, that I need them, to save me."

And with that(and a feral snarl), she spun around and lunged at the soldier's throat. Needless to say she proved her point. Once the soldier had stopped screaming and squirming, and Mina had had her fill, she stood up and quickly pulled out a pocket mirror, fixing her frazzled, vampiric appearance. I was fascinated; in my panic, I had forgotten about her vampirism. And I had never seen a vampire in action. Simply fascinating.

Dorian walked over to Mina and helped her fix her appearance. I looked over to Allan, who was talking to the young man.

"Secret Agent Tom Sawyer, at your service." The young man said, handing a rather impressive looking rifle to Allan. The old man weighed it, and tested it, however gun people like to judge their guns. He handed it back to Sawyer and said

"Very impressive-"

"I brought two." Allan's face lit up.

"You're in." I'm guessing that's what Sawyer was up to.

"Wait," said Dorian, flustered "I thought there were only supposed to be seven members of the league."

"Well, as I recall" said Mina walking over to Sawyer "you declined your invitation."

"Well, I assume that I have no choice, now, seeing as my study and probably the rest of my home is destroyed, and a madman now knows who I am and is willing to make the rest of my immortal life miserable."

"Good point." said Skinner who now had his coat back on and was standing in a corner with another glass of sherry.

"Well then," said Allan, cutting to the chase "that only leaves one more member."

I looked at Nemo who was standing next to me and shared my look that said,

_Oh dear God, what's next._


	5. Dr Jekkyl and Mr Hyde

Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde

We all walked out of Dorian's destroyed home, and followed Nemo to one of the docks nearby. We stood and waited in silence. I looked up at the sky. It was the same as when I first got the letter at the circus. I looked at Mina and whispered as quietly as possible,

"Um, what are we waiting on?"

At that very moment, something huge erupted out of the water.

"This," said Nemo, turning to face me "is what we are waiting on."

It seemed to me like it was a huge wall of solid steel was rising several stories up to meet us. It was shaped like a normal ship, the top part of the stern coming out farther than the rest of the ship. On the side was a huge pearl white circle surrounded by quite intricate designs. On the top there was what seemed to be a large crow's nest, but on a very short "mast".

"The Nautilus."

Once Nemo had shown us to all of our rooms, on the glorious Nautilus, he and Allan (followed by Sawyer) went to the main control room to plot out a course to go retrieve the last member. I had no idea why they were making such a big deal about some guy with a super power. It's not like he's a monster or anything…right?

I set my clothing suitcase down on the bed, and went over to a desk to put all of my pyrotechnic things out. As I was getting everything put away, I heard my door quietly open and shut. I kept on with my work, but slowly so I could hear anything going on.

"'Ello Amelia!" Said Skinner loudly behind my back. I jumped and turned around. No one.

"Skinner?" I called out.

"Yes?" behind me again. I turned around. Still no one.

"Skinner, you stay put or I'll…" I didn't want to make any enemies.

"You'll what?" he said to the silence.

I burst out laughing, I couldn't think of anything else to do.

"Amelia," said Skinner, worried "what, exactly, are you doing?"

"I don't know." I said, still giggling.

"You are one crazy acrobat," he said laughing "you know that, right?"

"I guess; if you say so." That's when I felt Skinner's hand ruffle my hair.

"I suppose I could manage to clothe myself," he said sarcastically, his voice heading for the door "in your presence only, of course." That's when I realized that he was naked.

"Skinner," I said as he opened the door "you are a sick man."

"That's what makes me 'extraordinary'." We both started laughing as he left my room.

We had been sailing, or swimming (Nemo explained the submarine and its works to me) for about a day when we sailed into the English Channel and up the Seine which runs through Paris, France, where our last member was residing.

We had been pulled to a stop for about an hour, and I was working on my newest pyrotechnic project; shooting stars. I figured that I needed more deadly weapons, seeing as I was now part of a superhuman team fighting a madman for the world. Shooting stars would simply be small rockets, encrusted with small, sharp pieces of glass, that shot out of your hand and, with the right take off, you could direct it to hit an enemy wherever needed. After that was successfully done, I would create bigger versions that would kill an enemy instantly…

I was in the middle of the very delicate process of breaking the glass just so and inserting it into the near-finished shooting star, when the ship shook violently, causing me to cut myself pretty badly on the glass. I quickly tended to my wounds as the ship shook again, accompanied by some angry roars. I paused, holding a cloth to my fingers, listening as the roaring started again and the ship shook again. I secured James' notes and took off down the narrow hall towards the noise.

Once I got close to the commotion, I met up with Mina, whom I followed down the narrow hall the rest of the way. When we got to the door where the noise was coming from, Skinner and Dorian met up with us coming down the hallway the opposite way. We all paused and looked at each other thinking _Do you know what's going on, because I have no idea._ Then, as whatever was in there roared again, I followed Mina in to the room, followed by Skinner and Dorian. What I saw in there was… interesting.

It was a man, sort of, he was about nine feet tall, extremely muscular, and had arms that reached the ground as he slouched over. His legs and feet, however, were perfectly normal. He was covered in chains and snarled and roared as he effortlessly swiped the frightened and shouting crew men who were trying to tame him with spears, into the walls, knocking them out. For every man swept away, another man came and replaced him.

"Stay back!" shouted Quatermain holding his gun "If you value your lives."

The monster man effortlessly swiped two more men away into the wall behind him. He only stopped when Quatermain started,

"You have done terrible things Mr. Hyde." Hyde stopped his thrashing and started angrily pacing in front of us. I looked around and saw Dorian, Skinner, and Sawyer standing on the opposite side of the room. Mina, Nemo, and I were standing behind Quatermain as he lectured Hyde. We were all very nervous.

"So terrible, that you fled the country." Quatermain continued "And I am ashamed to say, that her Majesty is willing to offer you amnesty for your crimes, in return for your services." Hyde paused when Quatermain said "You want to go home."

Then, to everybody's surprise, he spoke, and in a deep, raspy, yet defined voice

"Home, home is where the heart is, that's what they say. And I have been missing London so." He closed his eyes and recited, "Its smell is as sweet to me as a rare wine." Everybody paused at such refinedness coming from such a savage creature. He opened his eyes and looked in Mina and my general direction. "I'm yours."

I blushed, not knowing who he was talking to. He suddenly turned and looked at Sawyer.

"Don't be afraid."

"Who says I'm afraid?" he said laughing.

"YOU DO!" roared Hyde as he yanked a chain so hard it broke off a piece of the wall and swung it at Sawyer's head, who ducked just in time.

"You stink of fear!" he yelled as Sawyer got up.

"Quite the parlor trick." Said Dorian conversationally.

"You wait till you see my next one." He said angrily.

Suddenly his face was twisted with pain as he tensed up. He glared at Quatermain as he started shaking, faster and faster. There was a loud crack and some smoke as he roared pathetically. When the smoke cleared he was deformed, and I could barely see him before he shook and changed again with a crack. I only got one glimpse of him as he changed and it was not pretty. One half of his face was swollen and the other half small. He only had two fingers on one disfigured arm. His other arm was that of a normal man. His left eye was bulging out and the left side of his mouth was pulled open. He changed again and again and again, until finally, there was nothing but a normal man standing there, panting and sweating, both arms held out.

Call me crazy, but while the others were probably suffering a high case of disgust, the only thing I could feel right then was pity. Pity for any man who had to undergo such painful and, probably, agonizing transformations. He gathered his stretched out pants around his waste as the chains fell off of him and he said shakily

"Doctor Jekkyl, at your service."

Quatermain turned and looked back at us.

"That's it then, the League is set."


	6. Sailing to Italy

Sailing to Italy

After the whole Jekkyl/Hyde ordeal, Quatermain called us all to a meeting in Nemo's conference room. Once we were all present (and Jekkyl cleaned up and clothed) Quatermain and Nemo began discussing our mission.

"M said that the Phantom will attack Venice at the world conference." Said Nemo "Here are copies of Da Vinci's blueprints." He spread out some old looking sheets of paper. We all peered in for a quick glance, but looked away after realizing that we were only there because of our powers. While Nemo and Quatermain were discussing the layout, with some input from Dorian and Mina, I looked around, just taking this all in.

_Where'd my life go? It's all been so fast, seems like just yesterday I was fighting Roach for that job under a Thief Lord, stupid little cheating bugga._

I snapped out of it only to realize that Jekkyl was staring at me. I looked back at him but he quickly looked away. Nemo's voice was directed at me,

"Miss Amelia," I looked at him and came to him when he beckoned me forward "what type of bombs would one use to destroy a city such as Venice?"

He gestured to Da Vinci's maps as I examined the structures.

"Well, he would probably put some bombs underneath the city, in the water, probably water mines."

"Can you diffuse them?"

"I suppose so."

We then formulated and discussed our new plan to safely locate and diffuse the bombs. After I gave Nemo clear instructions to diffuse the bombs to teach his expert divers since I was in no shape to dive.

We then retired to our rooms, after an exhausting day. When I reached my room, I looked under my bed and checked the lingerie wrapped suitcase only to find that, as usual, the notes were still there. In stead of putting the notes away and going on with life, I decided to look through them, just for old times sake. It was a bit painful, looking at James' handwriting, it was as if he had never left me. My eyes welled up when I saw James' progress journal. Against my better judgment, I looked through it. I silently sobbed when I read just the first page. He was talking about how promising and sweet this new girl was. I could hear his voice clearly in my head. I immediately stopped reading and put the journal and notes away, and, cleaning up my pyrotechnics lab, put my nightgown on and went to bed.

That night I lay sobbing in my bed, not caring if anyone heard me, and knowing that if anyone did, I would regret it in the morning. I don't cry, so, as you can tell, this was pretty bad. Whenever I think of James, I just hold it in, but this was one of those few times that I let those ever threatening tears flow from my eyes.

The next morning, I got dressed and went down to the kitchen where a friendly cook made me some porridge with honey and gave me a sweet, Indian tart. I was just munching on the tart when Dr. Jekkyl came into the kitchen. He only noticed me when I called over to him "Good morning." He looked at me, smiled, and came over to me where I beckoned him to sit next to me. Once seated I said,

"Would you like one of these tarts? They're absolutely delicious."

"Oh, no thank you, I'm not all that hungry."

"Oh," I kept on munching on the tart when he started back up.

"So," he began nervously "you're not at all put off by that monster, Hyde?"

"No, not really." I said casually.

"Oh, well, I suppose that nobody really is…"

"Are you all right?" I asked when he shakily pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his sweaty brow.

"Oh, yes, of course." He said smiling and laughing.

"You know," I started, finishing my breakfast, "when he transformed back into you, it looked rather painful. Was it?"

"Well, sort of," he started "mostly…yes…a lot…"

"Oh," was all I could say. He looked at my hand.

"Did he do that?" he asked modestly.

"What?" I looked down at my cut finger. The cut had been pretty deep, seeing as now there were bloodstains on the bandage. I quickly pulled it under the table.

"How did you know?"

"He has that effect on people." He said smiling.

We sat there in silence for a while until Jekkyl spoke up.

"I beg your pardon, but I was walking back to my room last night, and I couldn't help but hear sobbing coming from your room. Are you all right?"

_Crap_

"Oh," I said laughing, "it was nothing. I was just remembering, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked with genuine concern in his eyes.

"Well…" and for the next half an hour I told him about everything up until his (Hyde's) capture. Except, of course, the whereabouts of James' notes. In turn, Henry told me about his life and studies, and the creation of his alter ego, Edward Hyde.

Our conversation was cut short upon Skinner's entrance.

"Skinner," I said into thin air "I thought you said you would remain dressed in my presence."

"Well you're not the only one in 'ere now are you?" his voice came from next to me.

I jumped back in disgust, "Skinner! Get that away from me!"

"Sorry love," he said backing off.

"Just, get dressed." I said laughing.

"As you wish." His voice said as the door shut. I looked at Jekkyl, who was about to say something when Dorian and Mina walked in.

"I should probably leave." Said Jekkyl standing up.

"You don't have to," I said quickly, "you could" I was cut off.

"No, I _really_ need to go."

"Oh," I know that could have meant a multitude of things, but, then again, look at me.

Later that day, I decided I'd go topside to get some fresh air, that and I'm just a wee bit claustrophobic, seeing as I'm a natural to the sky. Which gave me the idea. Luckily, on the way up, I ran into Nemo, who said it was fine by him, just double check with Allan.

"I suppose so," he said once I reached him and Sawyer on the deck, "just make sure nobody sees you."

I gladly nodded and took off down to the edge and, jumping off the rail, flew into the air. It felt so good to be back in the air again, the wind and the gatromites carrying me higher and higher into the air. I tumbled and spun, swerving left and right upon a whim. No rules, no limitations, just complete, unadulterated, freedom.

When I landed a couple hours later, I noticed that somebody had left immediately upon my arrival, and that Dorian was staring at me intently. Once I was on the ground and straightening out my gown, Dorian walked over to me,

"It must be absolutely wonderful up there, to have that kind of freedom."

"Oh yes, it is." I said smiling.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how does one obtain the ability to fly?"

I paused, when I told Jekkyl about it, it just, felt right. But there was something about this abnormally charming immortal, that didn't. But I figured as long as I didn't let too much slip…

"Well there are particles in the air called Gatromites, and if given the right chemical aura, one could ride these particles thus being able to fly…"

So I told him what I told Henry, until Mina came up and joined us in conversation.

"And since when are you interested in flying?" she asked Dorian suspiciously.

"I have lived a long time, and I have seen loony's try to fly, and fail miserably in death. And I was wondering what made this young girl and her 'father' so special."

Mina just smiled admiringly at him and they engaged in their own, lovers' conversation as I slipped away, going below, having my fill of fresh air to last me for a while. As I walked down the metal, spiral stairs, I heard someone rush down them ahead of me.

"Skinner?" I called. But nobody answered. So I just figured it was a crewmember just trying to get around without running into any of these horrible, British monsters. I decided that I would go back to my room and try to put together my shooting stars without cutting myself.

Later that evening, before the usual time when waiters would come around with our food, I heard a knock on my door.

_That's odd, they must be early tonight._

When I answered it, it was Mina.

"Hello Mina!" I said opening the door and inviting her in. As she walked in she said,

"Hello Amelia, I just thought you'd like some company this evening."

"Of course, please." I offered her a chair at the small table next to my desk. As she sat I cleaned up my lab.

"What have you been working on?" she inquired.

"Shooting stars."

"Really?"

I explained the workings of the shooting stars to Mina as she listened intently and gave her input as needed. We stopped when the waiters knocked on my door for dinner.

"I hope you don't mind, but I asked them to deliver my meal here."  
"Oh, that's perfectly alright." I said opening the door for the two food laden waiters.

Tonight was my favorite, shrimp scampi. My tray held a bottle of wine, a glass cup, and a plate with seven little shrimps encircling a rare fruit called a lemon. But Mina's plate consisted mainly of a deep soup bowl, small ladle, and large, metal goblet. The soup bowl was filled with a thick red liquid. At my slightly horror stricken look, she smiled warmly and said

"You should have seen me the first time I tried to eat human food after becoming a vampire."

I could only imagine. I asked for the blessing upon my food and we both dug in.

"Why do you do that?" she asked curiously.

"Do what?"

"Bow your head and pray to some non existent higher being."

"Firstly" I said, a little insulted, "I pray because he's there, and secondly, I was asking him to bless my food."

"Why?"

"So it will nourish me instead of kill me."

"I still don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Why any God would allow this to happen to me." Mina was becoming hostile.

"What are you talking about?" I said, a little scared.

"You don't understand." She said, looking away.

"What!?"

"What I've gone through!" she stood up, her eyes turning red "I lost my husband and my soul to one of His creations!!" I was about to scream back when I realized that that would not be the best thing to do right then.

Mina was breathing deeply as her eyes went from crimson back to their regular hazel. She recomposed herself and sat back down, looking at the floor.

"Please, forgive me." She said, almost monotone, "I lost control of myself."

"Oh, Mina," I said forgivingly, "it's alright." I grabbed one of her cold hands and squeezed it. She looked back up at me, sort of laughing,

"I haven't had my fill, and I tend to get," she searched for a word, "cranky."

I just smiled and we commenced with an uneasy dinner.

"You know," I said cautiously, "there may be some pretty bad downsides to this whole, vampire thing, but that doesn't make it all bad."

"Oh, really?" Mina said skeptically taking a drink of her…drink.

"Yes, you see there could have been worse people to be bitten and given this awesome power. He knew that you would be responsible with these powers and do the right thing with them."

Mina just smiled and took another drink, not wanting to talk any more of religion. Just then, somebody knocked at the door. I opened the door to see Allan, a bit irritated,

"Jekkyl said there was some feisty shouting going on. Are you ladies getting along?"

"Yes, of course," I said casually, "we were just having a little debate."

Allan rolled his eyes, gave a curt nod, and walked away.

I went back to the table and finished my wine when Mina said,

"That doctor seems to have taken quite a fancy to you."

"Really?" Again, never been in a relationship.

"Yes really, his monster ego staring at you,"

"I didn't know which one of us he was staring at."

"Neither did I."

"Hm…"

"When I walked in to the kitchen this morning with Dorian, he was staring intently at _you_, and earlier today when I was going up to the deck, he was standing at the bottom half of the steps pondering something. And then just now."

"Were you and Dorian this way?"

"Well, he was a bit more forward about his feelings." She seemed to go off into a whole other world. "He was very charming, very charming indeed. He knew exactly what to say, exactly where to touch…" she looked at me startled, "I'm sorry, just reminiscing."

"I understand," then I added, laughing, "Jekkyl and I were reminiscing this morning."

After a while, the waiters came and took our empty trays away, and with that, Mina left me to go to bed. When everybody was gone, I changed out of my dress, and into my nightgown, and sat down at my desk to brush out my long, brown hair. While I was doing that, I heard some murmuring coming from outside my door. I got up and walked over to open the door to see who it was, but stopped short when I heard Nemo say,

"Contain your evil doctor, I'll not have the brute free upon my ship."

"I am in control," that was when I recognized it at Henry Jekkyl.

"I can see that," Nemo said sarcastically.

"Well pardon my past but if I recall correctly, your past is far from laudable." Jekkyl was angry.

There were footsteps walking next to my door,

"What crimes has Hyde committed?" Nemo asked calmly.

"Hyde has committed every crime a man can commit," Jekkyl was calmer, but shaky, "but that's not the worst part, I recall everything."

"I too," said Nemo walking closer to Jekkyl "have committed many manners of crimes, and I too, recall it all."

I listened closer, but there was just some jumbled murmuring and then two sets of footsteps walking away from my door in opposite directions.

I lied in bed that sleepless night, thinking about what Mina had said, and about the conversation that took place outside my door. For once, my mind wasn't troubled with thoughts of James.

The next morning, I decided that I would go find Nemo and ask him how much longer our voyage would commence. After asking Ishmael of his where abouts, I found him in Allan's quarters. I knocked on the door, a little nervous. Allan had never appeared very friendly to me in the least. Allan answered the door, and I asked, quietly, and a little nervous,

"Um, sir, I was wondering if I could ask, uh, Captain Nemo, how much longer we will be traveling."

"We arrive tonight, my dear." I heard from the back of the room, Nemo was seated a table much like the one in my room, "Mr. Quatermain and I were just reviewing our blueprints and your instructions."

"Oh," I said relaxing a bit, "well then, I'd better go tell the others, if that's all right with you," I added nervously, looking at Quatermain.

"Fine by me." Said our Commander.

"Well then, I'd better go get ready."

With a nod from both men I left to go back to my room.

"Oh, Amelia," I heard Nemo from behind me. I turned around to see him walking towards me.

"Mr. Henry Jekkyl, is a good man, a descent man." I didn't know what he was getting at, was this a funeral? "Just be wary of Hyde, and don't let him touch you."

I started to say "I have no idea what you're talking about", but Allan called Nemo back with the most urgency.

I just walked back to my room, pondering Nemo's words. On the way back I met up with Jekkyl who invited me to breakfast.

"No, I can't, Nemo said that we're arriving in Venice tonight, and I wanted to get my things ready. I've never felt so important in my life." I added excitedly.

"I've always dreamed of being that important." Said Jekkyl smiling down at me. I'd never noticed it, but my eyes only came level to, about, just below his shoulders.

"With your science work, the potion?" I asked.

"I suppose." Said Jekkyl.

"Well, I should probably go make sure the others know that they should get ready."  
"May I accompany you?" asked Jekkyl.

"I suppose so," I said, sarcastically "but only if you behave."

We walked off laughing to warn the others of the upcoming events.


	7. Venice

Venice

I went back to my room to prepare for the evident and upcoming danger. I hadn't been wearing my trousers underneath my dress, or my boots for that matter. So I put on my hideous, yet sturdy, brown and black traveling dress, trousers, and boots. Very unladylike, but what the heck, I've never been one for fashion. I put my regular explosives in their designated pockets in my dress, trousers, or boots, and then the shooting stars in my 'special' pocket, and then my ever present, lighter, a new, reusable contraption that produces flames in an instant. That went into a special, adapted compartment in my fingerless glove on my left hand. As I was braiding my long hair for the trip, I heard a knock on my door.

"Hello Mina," I said smiling "won't you come in?"  
"Hello Amelia," she said obliging.

I shut the door and continued to braid my hair, walking back to my vanity. Mina was sitting at my table. I noticed her appearance had changed too. The first thing I noticed was that her flame red hair was down, and she was in a small leather jacket, with a turned up collar, tight leather trousers, long, black boots, and a black cloak. All together, she looked rather intimidating.

I finished braiding my hair and smiled, slightly lifting up my dress.

"You're not the only one in pants."

"Very classy." She said smiling.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Have you seen Skinner?" she asked bluntly.

"Come to think of it," I said recalling, "no, I haven't. When Henry and I went around to spread the news, Skinner wasn't in his room, and I haven't seen him for quite some time now, he usually comes to visit me."

"Suspicion has been running about the ship, strange things of misfortune, caused by some unseen hand. The men suspect ghosts, but as we all know…"

"It's probably Skinner." I finished.

Just then a knock came on the door, and Dorian's head popped into my room. _Sure, you can come in!_ I thought, a little insulted.

"Mina, I need a word with you."

And with that Mina was gone. _He's probably gone to nail her once more._ I thought bitterly.

Whoa! Where'd that come from?

I'd noticed that, in the past few days, my mind had reverted to the way of thinking I had when I was a street urchin. And sex was just something that happened, like pick-pocketing some rich old geezer so you could buy dinner. Nobody thought anything of it. But my ways had changed since James brought me to Christ. This change of mindset was probably my natural instinct coming on because of the impending danger.

I headed topside to get some flying practice in quickly, and detoured past Allan's room to double check my safety. Confirmed.

"But make it quick." He said hurrying off to the conference room.

Sooner that I thought was possible, I had taken to the sky, twirling and tumbling all of my worries away. But I reminded myself of the present situation, and got to work on my evasive maneuvers, attacking maneuvers, etc. I practiced offence, then defense, then offence again. I even made my own stratagems involving select members of the team (pretty much whoever was below me at the time during battle).

_Battle._ I thought as I landed back on the deck, _I never thought that I'd actually be in a _battle_._

_But then, who am I kidding? I should have known that, upon gaining the ability to fly, that something like this would happen._

_But not global Armageddon! _

I rarely ever talked to myself like this, so I knew that my nerves must be taking their toll on me. I walked over to the edge of the deck and leaned over the rail, looking out on the horizon. I suddenly bowed my head and prayed. I begged God to not let me die, but that if this was, in fact, my time to die, that I would die with honor and dignity, doing His will.

I said Amen and looked up. I saw movement in the water, small splashes coming closer and closer. Then they stopped. Suddenly I heard splashes coming from right below me.

Bottle nosed dolphins! A whole pod! I had only seen these magnificent creatures in the books James taught me from. I looked up to the sky and thanked God for this miracle of beauty and wonder. As they came up to the surface, they squeaked at me. I could only smile back. After a while, they stopped following the Nautilus, and swam off to their underwater home. I walked back to the stairwell, but stopped short when I heard them calling from a distance. I looked out to the sea, and then, just below the horizon, I saw them. Several of the dolphins leaped to the sky in a mismatched formation.

_I could learn a lot from them on aerial tactics._ I thought surprisedly.

I walked down the spiral stair, satisfied and ran into Jekkyl at the bottom of the steps.

"Out for a fly?" he asked smiling.

"Last minute practice." I said, smiling back.

"If it's not to bold to say," Jekkyl started slowly, as if unsure, "I enjoy watching you fly. The way you move is so graceful, that I don't think your father could have picked a better woman, or man for that matter, to teach how to fly."

_That might have been just a bit bold. Sweet, but bold._

"Thank you." I said, not wanting to sound rude.

We walked along the corridor chatting, and he asked me if I would join him for lunch.

"Well, I don't see why not." I said as we headed down to the kitchen.

Okay, so he was charming, in a strange, awkward kind of way. We had lunch and, pretty much, talked together for the rest of the day.

That evening, before we landed in Venice, Henry accompanied me to my room for some last minute things. I gathered up my pyrotechnics lab and went over to secure James' notes. But I stopped short, realizing that I wasn't alone. So I inconspicuously sat on my bed, pretending that I wasn't doing anything that had to do with something being under the bed. Henry walked over and sat next to me.

"Amelia," he said softly, "I-, I just want you to know, that," he looked into my eyes and I knew that he was about to say something really dumb.

"I want you to be careful." He finished. I nodded solemnly.

"No, I mean it," he grabbed one of my hands forcefully, yet gently, "I care too much about you to know that you might get seriously hurt. Actually," he said, his face becoming stern, "I think I care about you too much as it is."

"I don't understand," I started. He was really scaring me. He looked at the floor,

"I don't let myself get too attached to other beings. For fear that I might lose them, and have to deal with that pain wherever I go."

"Along with the pain you have to bear anyway." I finished, bending over to look at his face. I grabbed his other hand and held both of his large hands in my small ones.

He looked at me,

"Don't worry," I said smiling, "I can handle myself. Besides, we'll only be diffusing some bombs. _I _probably won't even have to fight."

"But it's not the fighting that worries me," he said, looking scared, "it's Hyde."

"Hyde?"

"Yes," he said, swallowing, "he's been badgering and bullying me to let him out since the day he saw you." A look of disgust swept across his face, "He wants to 'have his turn with you'."

I swallowed and, sort of, changed the subject,

"You can talk to him?"

"Yes, well, you see," he started, "whichever one of us is on the 'outside' can see and talk to whoever's on the inside, simply by looking in the mirror."

"So you can see him in the mirror, standing next to you?"

Henry shook his head solemnly "He is me. And I him."

Just then a loud knocking came on the door.

"Miss Amelia?" came the muffled voice of Ishmael. I ran up and answered the door, leaving Henry staring at his, once again, empty hands.

"Yes?"

"It's time. You too Doctor." He said looking back into my room. Henry stood up and followed me out of my room.

But, just then remembering, I went to secure James' notes. I was about to ask Henry to leave, but then I realized that he meant too much to me to not trust. Ishmael left with a nod from me and Henry shut the door behind him. I reached underneath the bed and pulled out the lingerie wrapped parcel. I looked at Henry and smiled,

"Safety precaution." He just smiled and chuckled to himself as I proceeded to open the briefcase.

I immediately knew that something was wrong.

"Somebody's messed with the notes." I said, my eyes bugging out.

"How do you know?" asked Henry, concerned.

"His theorems are always third to the bottom and the journal is always stored so that the binding is elevated ever so slightly by James' favorite pen. Somebody's messed with it."

"Well," Henry said anxiously, "we really need to go. I'll help you figure this out when we get back."  
I merely shut the briefcase, locked it, and hid it between the box spring and mattress.

When we reached the conference room, we saw that we were the last members to arrive. Mina looked at me with an, 'I know what you just did' kind of look. I just smiled back at her, despite my extreme discomfort. We were led out of the Nautilus and on to the solid, cobblestone streets of Venice. There were already men outside, preparing the divers, already in their diving suits, to descend underneath the city and diffuse the bombs.

"Hurry men!" Nemo shouted, "We must find those bombs!"

"Amelia," said Allan, walking over to me, "how long precisely do you think we have till the bombs go off?"

"Well, it depends on what size the bombs are."

"Rough estimate?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Nemo…" he walked off.

Suddenly, there were explosions coming from further in the city. All of our heads snapped up to see a multitude of fireworks exploding in mid air.

"Goodness, I feared the worst!" said Mina, putting her hand over her heart.

I just snickered, "The worst those things could do is burn the hairs of your arms. And that's only if they backfire on the ground."

"I suppose its for the masquerade going on down there." Said Jekkyl, pointing down at some buildings illuminated by multiple torches. I could hear the murmuring of a multitude of people. I imagined them all dancing; the women in their beautiful dresses, the men, all dressed up and feeling lucky, all hiding behind their mysterious masks.

Suddenly, earsplitting explosions came from a few miles away. The ground shook violently, the water lashed against the Nautilus. I looked up, already knowing the answer. No fireworks.

"The bombs…"

"To your stations men!!!" Nemo yelled.

There was some Indian yelling coming from the crow's nest on the top of the Nautilus.

"The buildings, they're falling like dominos." Said Nemo

"Dominos?" said Sawyer. We all looked at him with interest.  
"I have a plan."

After about a few moments of shouted discussion, we devised a plan that, if executed correctly, would end in the demise of the automobile. We were going to take the car and head off the falling buildings. The Nautilus would then target the car and blow up the last building to fall, ending the domino effect. Quatermain would be driving, but the rest of us would go along to make sure that nothing stood in the automobile's way. The car had no roof now, so we just jumped in the back.

I looked back at Henry and beckoned for him to come, but he just stood there and shook his head.

"Jekkyl!" Allan shouted, "We'll need Hyde!!"

"Henry please!" I shouted, my arm reached out.

"NO," shouted Henry, "He'll not control me again."

Dorian turned to face him, "Then what good are you?"

And with that, Quatermain took off, the tires squealing. I looked back at Henry,

_Please, I don't want to do this alone._

I was seated on the other side of Mina, who was sitting next to Dorian, who had his arm nonchalantly placed around Mina's shoulders.

We sped through the thin streets of Venice, the car squealing at every turn, and bumping on and off the road. Suddenly, armor plated men were shooting at us from across the road.

"This is my stop!" shouted Dorian as he jumped out of the car and walked over to the men, drawing his sword.

"Dorian!" Mina shouted.

But the car kept speeding on, towards its imminent destruction. Mina and I looked at each other. She looked calm and ready, but I could tell she could see the fear in my eyes. She reached a hand out to calm me, but there were bullets whizzing past us, coming from above. Sawyer and Allan both shot at the men on the roof tops, but to no prevail.

Suddenly, Mina put her head between the two front seats and said savagely,

"Save your bullets, these men are mine!" and with that last word, she flew from the car.

_Hey, I thought _I _was the aviator!_

But then I looked closely to see that she was being carried by multitudes of bats. I figured that now would be a good time for me to leave, seeing as I didn't want to be around when the car was blown up.

"I'm out!" I shouted, taking off.

I put my special, fingerless gloves on, which protect me from being burned.

I followed the car from the air, tossing my small, but deadly smoke bombs at the men on the rooftops across the street from the car. Mina was mauling men, several at a time on the other side of the street, above the car. The men didn't shoot at me, because my traveling dress was so dark that they couldn't see me in the night. After I ran out of smoke bombs, I started tossing the medium sized dynamite. Strong enough to knock a few men off of the roof, but not strong enough to blow up the building.

When they finally realized that the bombs knocking their men off of the roofs were coming from above, they started shooting at random spots in the air. I started flying in random patterns, tossing bombs the whole way. Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed at my left arm. I looked down to see blood oozing from my forearm. My throwing arm. I'd been shot.

The blood was now, practically, gushing out of my arm. I winced in pain as I clutched my arm to my body.

_Sorry Allan, you're on your own._ I thought, looking at the car as I turned to fly away. Bullets were still whizzing past me, so I gained some altitude, getting out of their firing range, and flew back to the Nautilus.

When I landed, my breathing was strained, and the pain was shooting up my entire arm. I walked over to Henry who ran over to me, knowing that something was wrong.

"Amelia," he said when he reached me, "what…" he stopped short when I showed him my arm.

"I was giving them some cover, and then the men started shooting at me, and one of them got lucky." I said smiling. Despite the intense pain in my arm, I was surprised that I managed to stay calm, conscious, and sane. All of my pain tolerance had seemed to have disappeared since James took me in.

"Come on." said Henry, monotone. He pulled out his handkerchief and wrapped it tightly around my arm. He then put his other arm around my shoulders and led me back up into the ship. He took me to the clinic, where he sat me down and treated my arm to the best of his abilities.

I was lucky. The bullet entered through the top of my arm and stopped short of my bone. Henry gave me some rare, expensive numbing liquid.

"You don't have to waste that on me." I said, still breathing heavily.

"You're worth it." He said looking me in the eye. I could see genuine concern behind a monotone mask.

Just as my arm was starting to go numb, Henry said, "You may want to turn away. You won't feel anything, but the sight is gruesome."

"I'll be fine." I said smiling. I may have lost my pain tolerance, but these eyes have seen worse.

Henry sighed and looked at me. He slowly reached over for a pair of thin pliers and a scalpel.

"Hold on." He said. And it started.

I looked on for a while, but then had to turn away. Then the noise started bothering me, and I could feel my arm being tugged by some loose piece of skin.

I turned and buried my face into Henry's shoulder. He stopped shortly, puzzling, but then went back to work. I sat there, as comfortable as I could get, waiting for it to end. And like that, it was over.

"There you are," he said softly, "good as new."

I looked down to see him finish taping the gauze to my arm. He had stitched the hole up and wrapped my arm up from my elbow, to my wrist. I lifted my head slightly off his shoulder and looked up to see his face inches from mine.

The next thing I knew, we were attached at the lips for quite some time. Typical, I know, but still…

We separated after a while and Henry looked at me. He reached down and picked up the bullet. It was brown with dried blood, and scratched up from Henry's tools. He held it up to me, "I swear to you," he gestured at the bullet, "_this_ will never happen again. Nor anything like it. Not while I still breath."

Just then we heard explosions and shouting coming from outside. Henry and I both stood up, but I started swaying. Henry steadied me and said, "The antiseptic will make you dizzy for a while, and it will sting once you recover the feeling in your arm, you should probably stay here."

"No, no, I'll be fine!" I said smiling. Henry sighed and took my good arm, leading me out of the Nautilus and onto the street.

Mina, Allan, and Nemo were all out there, and we went to them.

Mina looked at me with concern, "What happened to you?"

"I got shot," a look of horror crossed her face,

"But don't worry," I said, quickly, "Henry fixed it, and besides, it wasn't even that bad."

And, of course, my nerve cells in my left arm regained consciousness just then. I winced in pain, and the smell of the antiseptic burned my nose.

"Where is everybody?" Henry asked, his arm around my shoulders.

"Well as we all know," said Allan, "Skinner's gone AWOL, Dorian's inside, and, well, as for Sawyer…"

"He'll live to see another day." Sawyer walked out of a cloud of smoke. Mina walked over to him, and wiped some blood off of his forehead. He looked a bit scared when she licked her fingers.

"Don't worry," she said, smiling, "I've had my fill."

"Captain!" we turned to see Ishmael stagger down the ramp, out of the Nautilus.

Nemo and Sawyer ran over to him. Henry and I, followed by Mina and Allan, jogged over to see what was wrong.

"Who did this to you?" Nemo demanded. Ishmael had been shot.

"I-It's not- not- Skinner. Not-Skinner." He staggered. "It's D- D- Dorian- Dorian Gray." And with that, he died.

"That-!" Nemo ran off into a string of Indian profanities.

There were some klinking and clankings and groaning of metal on metal.

"The Nautiloid!" said Nemo, standing up, and running inside the ship. But to no prevail. The white circle on the side of the ship opened up, and a smallish water vehicle came out, suspended on a long metal rod. Suddenly, it dropped into the water. Spikes radiated out of the back and spun around, spinning the whole thing around to face us. In the window, was the smirking face of Dorian Gray. That snake. He looked at Mina and blew a kiss in her direction. I looked at her and saw her eyes turn red with fury. She turned and stormed off into the ship, just as the Nautiloid turned and disappeared into the water.

"Quickly! Back to the ship!" Nemo shouted, running back into the ship. Later, in the conference room, Nemo showed us a unique tracking device. It was a large orb spinning inside the wall. It was rough and had raised portions and lowered portions. It looked like a globe. There were two metal poles, which ended in lights, scraping the surface of the globe. He pointed to the pole with the larger light.

"This is us," He then pointed at the smaller one. "and this, is the Nautiloid. We can easily overtake him within several hours."

"Captain." Said Nemo's new first mate. "We found this in the boiler room."

It was a record.

"Play it." Ordered Nemo. The first mate put the record on the player and put the needle on the record.

"Are you ready doctor? Go ahead." Said a woman's voice.

"Hello gentlemen," M paused, "and Amelia and Mina. No doubt you've figured out the true identity of my wolf among you sheep."

"Growl." Said Dorian's voice. Mina scowled.

To make a really irritating, long message short, M told us about his true identity (Apparently, Allan had had a run in with the Phantom, and found out his true identity), Dorian gave some irritating input. He went on to explain that Dorian had stolen samples of Mina's blood, Skinner's skin, one of Henry's potions, copies of James' notes, and pictures of the inside of the Nautilus. Henry became furious when he heard this, but stopped when his hand rushed up to his ear.

"Are you alright?" I asked, concerned with his peculiar behavior.

"Yes," he said, giving a weak smile, "it's nothing."

I had just realized it, but the whole time, Henry had been looking at himself in the mirror, with a concerned expression.

"Now, you probably think that I just like the sound of my voice, but what you don't realize, is that, during this recording, the record has been emitting high frequency sound waves. These sound waves are only audible to animals, and are capable of shattering crystal. Which is attached to the three bombs that Dorian has placed on your ship…"

Before he could say anymore, Nemo took the record player, and flung it to the ground.

Just then, I put it together. Henry can see Hyde in the mirror, and Hyde has animal features… such as their hearing. Suddenly, the ship shook violently, for a very long time. Red lights flashed everywhere, and sirens went off. A man ran into the room,

"Captain! The main boiler room has flooded!"

"Close the hatch!"

"But sir! There are still men in there!"

"NOW!"

The man ran off to carry out Nemo's orders.

Henry turned me around to face him,

"I'll be back, I promise." He kissed me, and then left, running down the hall.

"Jekkyl!" cried Nemo.

"Don't worry," I said, drawing everyone's attention to me, "he knows what he's doing."

My arm was stinging again, so, through all of the hubbub, I plopped myself down in a nearby chair. Henry must know what he's doing, I reassured myself, but I couldn't help but fear for my love.

My love…

Mina put her hand on my shoulder,

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah," I turned to smile at her, "I'm fine."

There were men running and shouting all around, but the league stood steady, waiting for Jekkyl, or Hyde's return. We could all feel that the ship was slowly sinking to one side, when suddenly, we were all jerked to the opposite side.

I had fallen out of the chair, and nearly landed on my injured arm, everyone else had been standing, so they were sent flying off their feet. But the minute the ship started shaking, Nemo shouted, triumphantly,

"He's done it!"

Apparently he had, the ship stopped shaking, and men had stopped shouting. We all stood up and started to put things back together. I righted my chair, and started picking up some shattered glass, when Henry walked in, fixing the cuff of his sleeve. He looked healthier, now that I noticed, and he was smiling, walking a brisk walk. When he walked in, he was congratulated by Alan.

"Perhaps you are of some use to us, afterall."

Henry merely smirked, and then looked around the room. I stood up, nonchalantly, to throw away some of the glass shards, and he saw me. He walked over to me, and, as I disposed of the trash, turned me around. He held my face in his hands gave me a short kiss, then held my so fiercely, that I never thought he'd have let me go, and turn to Allan.

"Sir!" cried a crewmember to Nemo. Everybody followed the captain over to a man at a table in front of an odd contraption. But I soon realized the man to be using Morse code.

"It's from the Nautiloid." The man then recited from the headset he was holding to his ear, " 'Hello my freaky darlings,'"

"It's Skinner!" said Sawyer.

" 'Stowed away on little ship with Gray. Sending you coordinates. See you soon.'"

Just then, a thin piece of paper staggered out of a thin slot in the machine.

Nemo ripped it from the slot, and said, reading it, " They are heading to Siberia!"


	8. Siberia

Siberia

The rest of our voyage was spent, every member of the League, applying their skills in any way they could to right the ship. Henry and Mina were working with the ship's doctors in the infirmary; Allan, Nemo, and Sawyer were busy plotting our course of travel and action; and I was busy studying the remnants of the bombs. They were interesting little things, I was fascinated with their technique. Shattering glass to set off the bombs! Ingenious!

I was sitting at my desk, researching, when a knock came upon my door. It was short, curt, and demanding, not like Henry or Mina. I stood up and answered the door, to find Allan standing there.

"Miss Amelia,"

"Yes?"

"We are in need of some, special, dynamite."

"What kind?"

Turns out, Allan had had a "feeling", that Skinner would tell them something along the lines of them needing heavy firepower. So, I was directed to design and construct 5 bundles of timed dynamites.

"You'll need to set them for 10 minutes or so."

Allan informed me that I had 28 hours, just a little over one day, till we reached Siberia.

I worked for the next 8 hours straight, not stopping for anything, until Henry walked in. He had gained permission to enter my room without knocking. I heard him coming, so when he put his hands on my shoulders, I wasn't surprised.

"Dear," he had taken to calling me, "please stop, you've done enough for one night."

It was one o'clock in the morning, and I had constructed all but one of the dynamite, and I still needed to make the timers.

"But,"

"Now, Amelia."

I smiled and, putting down my work, got up to face Henry.

"Amelia," he said, becoming solemn, "I need a word with you."

"Okay," I said, and he led me over to my bed, where he sat me down next to him. He held both of my hands in his, and looked me dead in the eye. His eyes were deep brown, almost black, filled with so much chaos and confusion.

"I was told that if there ever was a time to prove myself, it would be when we reach Siberia. Nobody knows what to expect, that's why they'll need Hyde."

"Okay, then Hyde will need to come out." I said matter-of-factly.

"I want you to promise me something," he said, "if Hyde does come out, if I'm forced to release him, promise me that you will do your best to stay away from him. Promise me?"

"Henry," I said, letting go of his hands, seriously, "I'm not as fragile as you think I am. I'm not some breakable toy, that you have to defend from the other kids."

My cockney accent was creeping back in, and I stood up.

"If I was so fragile, then how did I survive on the streets for 15 years? Why did James choose me for his serum? How did I get by all these years if I'm so fragile I can't handle your ego?"

Tears of anger and stress were welling up in my eyes.

"Amelia," Henry started, standing up with me.

"Henry," I said irritated, "just shut up and go away."

Henry sighed angrily and stormed out of my room, slamming the door behind him.

I was too angry to break down, but that didn't stop the tears from flowing. I sat back down at my desk, and began working again. We were going to be reaching our destination in 17 hours, and I had a lot to do.

By 9 o'clock the next morning, I was completely finished with the dynamite. I personally delivered them to a dozing Allan, who recommended that I take at least a couple of hours sleep. But I was running on pure adrenaline from my and Henry's fight, and the nervousness of the oncoming threat.

When I got back to my room, I collapsed on the bed and didn't awake 'til 4 o'clock that evening.

When I awoke, I realized that, we'd be arriving in 4 hours! I jumped up, rejuvenated, and ran to my desk, where I began to restock on my custom made explosives; the shooting stars, the smoke bombs, the mini-dynamite, even some stink bombs. Only an hour into this, I stopped a kitchen boy in the hall and requested a pot of tea, or coffee, or whatever they had down there. I knew it was almost time, so I began equipping myself. I put on my traveling dress, but soon decided that it was pointless, and ripped off the skirt, leaving my brown, sleeved corset, my many pocketed pants, and my thick boots. I braided my hair, and shoved all of my weapons into their designated pockets. When all of this was finished, I was summoned by one of Nemo's officers.

It was time.

We all met in Nemo's meeting room, and were all given heavy winter wear, made of the most fascinating, and beautiful fabric, I'd ever seen. We were made to wear, long leather trench coats, and thick, white parkas, with fur lined hoods, all over our regular wear. As we were readying ourselves, I caught sight of Henry. I was still frustrated with him, and I could tell he was extremely angry with me, but, I guess, I kind of missed him. Mina came over to me, and talked as we readied ourselves.

"Here," she said handing me something.

I took it, to find it was a long, thin knife.

"It's light, it's durable, and it'll take care of you."

"Thanks Mina." I said smiling at my vampiric friend, as she pulled the provided trench coat over her own.

"Amelia," she said, "you're tough, everyone knows that. But you can't take on the world like you seem to think you can. To tell you the truth, darling," she looked at me, hoping I would take this easily, "compared to some of us, you're still just that kid off the streets of London."

I couldn't say anything to that, and I was in no mood to. So I just attached the knife and its sheath to my belt, and shouldered on the thick, white parka.

"Thanks for the knife Mina." And I began to walk away.

"Amelia," she called from behind me, "I didn't mean to say that you can't kick some serious ass when we get in there. I just meant that you should realize that your back is covered."

As I turned, I realized that the rest of the League, surrounding me, was, in fact, looking at me with a smile. Even Allan. I smiled back to them, not looking at Henry. I was too ashamed to.

***

We traversed the tundra of Siberia, through one of their famous snow storms, for about 2 hours, lead by Allan, to where Skinner's message said he would meet us. We came upon a hill, and lo and behold, there was, what I thought to be, Satan's castle. It was a castle all right, but with flames spurting out of random places, and black, billowing smoke clouds floating out of smoke stacks that reached to the sky. I heard Mina utter a curse, and most of the men Nemo had brought were uttering frightened Indian phrases. We stood and looked at the hellish palace, and I noticed that Henry was standing beside me, but not close enough to talk to.

Later, Allan had found us a cave to wait in, the cave where Skinner had told us to wait. Allan was outside keeping watch, and we all built a fire in the cave. I sat alone, in front of it, and looked over the knife Mina had given me. The blade was a good foot long, but only two inches wide just below the hilt. The hilt was big enough for one of my hands, and thin, so that I could spin the blade around rapidly in my hand. The hilt was engraved with words in a language I was not familiar with.

"_La spre seek lumină în întuneric de places_" said Mina, sitting next to me, "It means, 'To seek light in the darkest of places."

"What language is it?" I asked.

"Romanian." Mina replied, "It was used in the hunt of many evil creatures by Dr. VanHelsing, himself."

"Wow," I said, amazed.

"I have no other need for it," she said looking at it, thoughtfully, "and I wanted to make sure it went into worthy hands."

"What makes me worthy?"

Mina laughed, "You're a brave girl, Amelia."

"Girl?" I said laughing.

"Well, compared to how long I've lived, you might as well still be in diapers."

Suddenly, there was a growling, coming from the entrance to the cave. Mina and I looked at each other, and all of the League went out to see what was going on. We came out to see Allan, just putting his gun down, and looking thoughtfully at the snow.

"Allan," said Sawyer, "what is it?"

"It was nothing," said Allan, "just an old tiger, sensing the end."

"Perhaps." Said Nemo, looking at Allan, suspiciously.

Out of nowhere, Mina let out a scream.

"Easy darling, it's just me." Said Skinner's amused voice.

"Skinner, what the hell?" exclaimed Allan.

"I've been waiting all week to do that." Said Skinner, still amused.

Everyone just looked in Skinner's general direction, frowning.

"Good to see you all too." He said, mildly offended.

"Now, if you all haven't noticed," his voice moving towards the cave, "I'm butt naked in the middle of Siberia."

Later, in the cave, Skinner had packed on several layers of clothing, painted his face a ghostly white, and put on his ever-present sunglasses. He described the castle to us as he ate some warm soup. It was as hellish inside as it was outside. Skinner told us that all the things that Dorian had stolen from us were being used against us. M had kidnapped hundreds of scientists, and their families, and while the families were put in the dungeons, the scientists were forced to develop mass production of all the specimens.

"He'd have himself an army of vampires, Hyde's, invisible assassins, flying agents," said Skinner, serious as I'd ever seen him, "he's even making replica's of the Nautilus."

"The Nautiloid." Said Nemo, horrified.

We all knew that we were the ones to stop it, and that it had to be stopped now. But the question was, how?

"The only way to end this," Skinner said, "is to free the scientists, and destroy that hellhole."

"We also need to make sure that those specimens are destroyed and out of M's hands." Said Nemo.

"And that the bastard dog himself is either dead or in prison." Said Allan.

We all nodded in agreement.

"There are several large boilers, and, if one were to use enough dynamite, they would be the end of this all." Skinner explained.

Allan looked at me, noticing the irony in the coincidence, and I grinned back at him. Thank God for my love of explosions.


End file.
